This invention relates to optical scanner devices, and more particularly to a mechanical resonant scanner having a mirror which moves to deflect light along a scanning pattern.
Mechanical resonant scanners are used in retinal display devices to scan an image onto the retina of an eye. In an exemplary configuration one scanner is used to provide horizontal deflection of a light beam, while another scanner is used to provide vertical deflection of the light beam. Together the two scanners deflect the light beam along a raster pattern. By modulating the light beam and implementing multiple colors, a color image is scanned in raster format onto the retina.
Scanning rate and physical deflection distance characterize the movement of the scanner's mirror. In the context of a retinal display the scanning rate and deflection distances are defined to meet the limits of the human eye. For the eye to continually perceive an ongoing image the light beam rescans the image, or a changing image, in periodic fashion. Analogous to refreshing a pixel on a display screen, the eye's retinal receptors must receive light from the scanning light beam periodically. The minimum refresh rate is a function of the light adaptive ability of the eye, the image luminance, and the length of time the retinal receptors perceive luminance after light impinges. To achieve television quality imaging the refresh rate is to be at least 50 to 60 times per second (i.e., .gtoreq.50 Hz to 60 Hz). Further, to perceive continuous movement within an image the refresh rate is to be at least 30 Hz. With regard to the deflection distance, the mirror is deflected to define a raster pattern within the eye. System magnification and distance between the scanner and an eyepiece determine the desired deflection distance.
To define a raster pattern in which millions of bits of information (e.g., light pixels) are communicated onto a small area (i.e., eye retina), the position of the mirror needs to be known to a high degree of accuracy. In a mechanical resonant scanner, the resonant frequency defines the scanning rate. The resonant frequency is determined by a natural frequency of the scanning structure. Conventionally, a mechanical turn-screw is used to tune the resonant frequency to be equal to an image data drive signal (e.g., HSYNC or VSYNC). The resonant frequency, however, changes with environmental changes (e.g., temperature, barometric pressure). This change in resonance changes the phase relationship between the phase of the image data drive signal and the position phase of the mirror position. Accordingly, there is a need to monitor the position of the mirror.